An operator faced significant challenges in a thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) development project. The reservoir, characterized by highly viscous, biodegraded heavy and extraheavy oil, presented complex vertical and lateral compositional changes. These complexities made it difficult to acquire essential fluid property data, as no downhole fluid samples were suitable for analysis. Without this data, the dynamic modeling required for field development strategies remained highly uncertain.
Understanding the viscosity gradients and permeability was critical, especially when the dynamic modeling indicated better mobility in new areas of the field compared with previous locations. The absence of fluid samples and core acquisitions added another layer of difficulty, necessitating an innovative approach to generate the required data.
